State Grant Sets in Motion a Healthier Vineyard

A three-year state grant that ended in September has transformed Island school lunch programs and helped set a course for healthier living for residents of all ages, the Dukes County commission heard in a report this week.

The Vineyard Mass in Motion grant was part of a federally-funded initiative to promote healthier lifestyles. More than 50 communities statewide have been funded by the initiative since 2011.

The state Department of Public Health asked the Vineyard to participate in order to have more rural involvement in the program. Over the three years, $180,000 was provided to support a range of food and health initiatives here. The grant was administered by Dukes County.

Grant coordinator Nevette Previd told members of the county commission at their Wednesday that programs at all six Island elementary schools and at the high school had taken hold , and that some are now being funded locally. She said efforts to expand food assistance programs and pedestrian and bike travel have also made headway and will likely continue to develop.

Some of the most dramatic changes were in the schools, where community groups have worked to introduce healthier food options through educational programs for kids, parents and staff. Harvest of the Month develops curriculums around locally grown fruits and vegetables and has been put in place in grades pre-K through 12. It is now in its third year.

“In every single school lunch program, there has been seismic change in the past three years,” Ms. Previd said. She hoped continued efforts between the seven school wellness committees and local farms would continue and help to save money on the healthy lunch programs.

The grant helped strengthen community partnerships and also form new ones over the three years. As one example, the grant helped streamline the work of the Island Grown Gleaners, a group of volunteers organized by the Island Grown Initiative that distributes surplus farm produce around the Island.

Vineyard Nutrition, a dietary consulting group, conducted more than 30 programs at local schools, educating parents and teachers about healthy snacks, menu planning and other dietary issues. Ms. Previd said those programs will now continue with funding from the schools.

She said Island Grown Schools, which works to incorporate gardening and locally-grown food into all of the Island schools, is now operating the Harvest of the Month program on its own.

The food-assistance efforts focused on partnering with local food pantries including Serving Hands and the Food Assistance Program. A food accessibility study of the Vineyard by graduate students at the University of Massachusetts provided data and measurements that helped the effort get started.

The gleaning program helped increase the amount of fresh produce Serving Hands could offer to those in need. The grant also helped establish a connection with the Greater Boston Food Bank, which trucked in food that was previously unavailable. Serving Hands negotiated shares in all the Island’s community-supported agriculture programs, which provided fresh produce during the growing season.

By having a staff member at the Vineyard Health Care access office every Friday for six months, Serving Hands helped 125 people sign up for SNAP benefits. “That’s pretty amazing,” Ms. Previd said.

She said community support for the food assistance programs has continued to grow, and she expected the relationships forged between local groups and food pantries to continue.

During the grant period, the seven Island schools formed committees to find ways to make people’s routes from home to school safer for walking and biking. Walkability studies were completed in Tisbury, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, with students surveying the areas within one mile of their schools. The studies were submitted to school administrators, departments of public works and other groups.

“Within each town there has been substantial movement of looking at how they can make those routes safer,” Ms. Previd said. One result of the study in Tisbury was a request to the DPW to do its street cleaning earlier in the season, and to post signs indicating when the cleaning would occur.

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission and a bike and pedestrian action committee worked with Mass in Motion to draft a set of guidelines for making Island roads safe for all types of transportation, including walking. Ms. Previd pointed to the rotary in Tisbury as one example of good all-around planning.

“The idea is working with town planners and public works before these big projects come in,” she said.

Having such guidelines in place could lead to additional state funding opportunities, Ms. Previd said. The draft guidelines have circulated among Island selectmen, and the next step is to develop a final draft to present to each town for a vote. The county commission has said it is on board with the efforts.

Together with the county and the MVC, Mass in Motion also consolidated a collection of maps showing the Island roads, paths, public transportation routes and some key landmarks. Ms. Previd said it was the first digital map of the Island that could be accessed by mobile devices. The maps are available on the county website, and will soon be launched on the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce website.

Ms. Previd was optimistic that the partnerships forged over the three years would continue. “I think the success of the Mass in Motion grant was that it really brought these organizations and businesses and passionate individuals together,” she said. “And now they are communicating and there is a lot of cross-pollination of projects.”

Next on the horizon is a grant from the Miller Innovation Fund to support the county’s healthy aging task force. Its goal is to help educate the community and prepare for the obstacles facing the Island’s aging population. Ms. Previd said the grant would cover issues such as transportation, caregiver housing and elderly lifestyle choices such as aging in place versus living in a nursing home.

“It’s very similar to this grant,” she said. “Getting people on the same page and helping them help themselves work together. Because the energy and the knowledge is here.”